Wishing you the freshness of morning dew,
the promise of bursting buds,
beauty and goodness in your surroundings and in your soul,
with colors as rich as the purple Rose of Sharon.
Moments to be cherished,
memories to be embraced,
a full life discovered…
at life in between.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
I am thankful for…
nights that turned into mornings,
friends that turned into family,
and dreams that turned into reality.*
As I spend time this week with some bestie friends that have become like family…
and got to experience this sunrise yesterday morning on the beach…
I thought it apropos to share this quote I found that resonates so deeply with me.
Wishing all of this and more for you as well.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Do you have a favorite place or space in your home?
One of my favorite spaces in our home is the family bookshelf.
It’s kind of center stage in the great room commanding half of one wall measuring about 8 feet wide by 9 feet tall.
Hubby custom built this a few years after we built our house.
My “usual” seat on the couch directly faces this “memory box,” and sometimes I just stare at all the memories while hubby is staring at the television or the latest book he is reading in the evening.
It’s filled with so many favorite things…
There are a lot of family photos – some from a long time ago and some more recent…
Like our oldest son at 4 years old playing a toy saxophone and then a framed newspaper clipping of him playing a saxophone solo in the high school band. There’s one of him and his beautiful wife – our beloved daughter-in-law. There’s one of him and his Dad with a cake they made for a Cub Scouts competition and one in his “cap and gown” at his preschool graduation.
There are photos of our youngest son dressed in his favorite Halloween costume that he wore two years in a row when he was Peter Pan at 4 and 5 years old, in his football uniform for midget football, sticking his tongue out with his Dad and brother on a summer trip to Cedar Point Amusement Park, grinning at me at his preschool graduation, with me at a Kindergarten party where I was his homeroom mom, and with his sweet girlfriend now.
There is a photo of my hubby with his sister when they were young children… a sister and aunt who we loved dearly and lost way too early from cancer.
And there is a photo of my father-in-law taken on his last day on this earth when he was blessed with a surprise visit from a favorite niece from far away who he hadn’t seen in years. It is such a sweet memory to see him so happy just hours before he left us. We will never be able to express enough gratitude to this sweet lady for the joy she brought him that special day.
There are photos of friends and fun times, like a trip to Hawaii with our besties and holiday celebrations with all of our kids.
There are a few books, some significant, some not… There are high school yearbooks, photo memory books, bibles, favorite children’s books – like our very favorite bedtime read-aloud story book – “Bob and Jack – A Boy and his Yak.” There are baby books for each of the boys and a special memory book made by my cousin Joyce and given to me at Christmas featuring my first year blogging at LifeinBetween.me. There are books read at book club and business books and bird books and favorite fiction authors. There is a copy of the book I wrote and had bound as a gift to my Dad for our second Christmas together after reuniting. Our wedding photo albums sit on one of the shelves.
Then there are other sweet memorabilia, like our youngest son’s stuffed animal “Curious George” who he loved so dearly as a child and slept with every night.
There is the birthday bear my Dad sent me on my first birthday after we reunited after too many years apart with a sweet note saying, “Happy Birthday Jodi, My Little Girl. Love you, Dad.”
It was my 48th birthday.
And there is the little trinket box he gave me that says, “Daughter – With all the Beauty on the Earth, there is nothing more Beautiful than you.”
There’s a statue of a yellow lab that was my father-in-law’s sweet memory of his beloved “Brandy.”
There’s a cruise ship trophy our oldest son won singing Karaoke on a cruise with his now wife on a family vacation he went on with her family.
There are “Friends” blocks given to me from my BFF.
There is a photo album of our Cleveland friends wearing Pittsburgh Steelers shirts and poses too explicit to share here after they lost a family bet during a rival football playoff season.
There is a gorgeous painting from a faraway friend who suffered from a life-altering traumatic brain injury that completely changed her life and turned a corporate CEO into an artistic genius and a genuinely beautiful creative inspiration. I bought her very first piece of artwork, and I treasure it so dearly.
My heart is smiling as I type and recall these memories.
You see – a home is not brick and mortar. It is not plaster and paint.
It is the memories.
It is the family and friends and people you share it with.
My favorite little plaque hanging on another wall in our home says it all….
“The thing I love most about my home is who I share it with.”
So that is my special home “space.”
What is yours?
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
The showers beat down,
the wind blows strong.
We drip and wilt –
all tousled about.
But afterwards…
we are refreshed
and renewed.
We are given new life.
We are nourished and vibrant and ready to grow.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Those of us with grown children can look back and know this is true. But if there is anything I can say to young moms out there struggling to be a “perfect mother,” I would say:
Cherish the moments.
Many of the days are long, but the years are short.
Even on your worst days, I’ll bet your children still think you are THE Best!
Your children will become what you are, so be what you want them to be.
Be their sunshine when their clouds are gray.
Embrace the gift you are given in your children…
and just LOVE them!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Wishing you time for thoughts, walks, books, and friends.
Happy Weekend!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I am sharing a beautiful sign I saw along a walk I took this week at Six Mile Cyprus Slough Preserve in Fort Myers, Florida.
I am on my way home to my valentine, and I am leaving behind a dear friend – both who fill my heart to overflowing.
Look forward to sharing more soon.
Cheers & Heartfelt Valentine Hugs,
Jodi
As some of you may recall, my “One Little Word” this year is Discover.
This is the year for me to Discover… more about myself… and more about the world around me.
I am honored and privileged to share a very special piece of artwork with you today from my friend Jo Freehand at Daily Record 365.
Jo created #Two Hundred Two: Discover just for me and my word!
I have been slowly taking it in since Jo kindly created and posted it several weeks ago; and every time I look it, I discover something new.
Here is how I first saw it:
The microscope is mammoth and massive and complex (like life), and it is examining the hole in the record (the “in between” part – the part where we have the freedom to do and be what we want). The lady is REACHING – almost as if for the stars and then embraces and takes in that light. And the microscope reminds me of the Discovery Satellite too – exploring the universe – and that is what the lady is seeing and feeling and it is filling her heart, and she is happy and excited and fascinated. And it is saying that what you see with your eyes (or at least on the surface or at first glance), might not be the “be all /end all.” You have to look closer, you have to feel it, you have to let it fill you, and it will bring you joy. There is a better view if you reach, stretch to look closer or look at a different way, and you need to look “in between.”
Jo elaborated:
Discovery is an individual experience. However this image speaks to you is right for you. For me, the microscope is focused on a watch, an everyday object. Or perhaps it represents time or a moment. She’s “reaching for a better view.” Does she realize the view right there beneath her skin? The entire universe right there? (Or has she been focused outwardly, watching hands move around the clock.) Can anyone else interpret her universe?
Deep stuff – eh??!! 🙂
What do you see when you look at it? What does it say to you? I would love to hear your thoughts.
And I urge you to discover Jo’s blog. It is always fun to see each Daily Record and interpret what it speaks to you. Comments are usually as diverse as the people sharing them, which make it that much more fun and interesting.
I hope you are discovering more about yourself and the world around you – every day – because there is a lot of “good stuff” in and out there!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
The wonderful thing about taking a walk with my camera
is that even though I may take the same route every day,
when looking through the lens,
there is always something new to see.
Don’t fence me in!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
A dear friend shared this amazing piece with me yesterday, and I had to share it. It was in response to yesterday’s post, Untold Story.
And this photo I took on a brief walk yesterday afternoon seemed to perfectly align with the message in the poem.
On Joy and Sorrow
Kahlil Gibran
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 